Justice: The Story of Mapule Ramashala

Voice 2:And I'm Steve Myersco. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1:Mapule Ramashala is from the country of South Africa. She grew up during the time of Apartheid law. This system of law kept people of different races or skin colors separate. The laws favored the white race. And this made life for non-white South Africans very difficult.

Voice 2:Mapule was a black South African who suffered many injustices under the Apartheid laws. However, she has spent much of her life working to heal the pain that apartheid caused all South Africans. Today's Spotlight program will look at the life of Mapule Ramashala and her understanding of community justice.

Voice 1:Apartheid law began in South Africa in 1948. The government passed many laws to segregate or separate the races. They made it illegal for a person to marry someone of another race. Everyone in South Africa had to carry their passport at all times in order to identify their race. And different races were forced to live in separate areas.

Voice 2:These laws and many others made racial discrimination legal. People were treated differently and divided just because of their skin color.

Voice 1:In 1959, the government passed the Extension of University Act. This Act denied non-white students the freedom to choose which University they wanted to attend. Mapule wrote about how this law affected her,

Voice 3:"I was in the middle of doing my Masters degree at the University of Witwatersrand in 1964. Then, I received a letter from the government. It said I was to take all my property and leave the university immediately."

Voice 2:Mapule was very shocked. She was going to school for her Masters degree in Clinical Psychology. She wanted to help people achieve mental health by preventing and repairing psychological damage. And the University of Witwatersrand was the only school in South Africa that offered this degree. Mapule wrote,

Voice 3:"You could not leave the country and you could not study in the country."

Voice 1:Mapule knew that this law was not right. So, she asked the University to present a legal case for her against the government. The University agreed. And they won the case. However, the government did not apologize. Mapule wrote,

Voice 3:"The government lost the case. But it stated very clearly that when I finished my Masters I was to leave the university."

Voice 2:Sadly, after Mapule finished her degree, she was not able to find a job in South Africa because of her race. This story of injustice is only one of many Mapule experienced in her life. And Mapule is only one of millions of non-whites in South Africa who suffered under Apartheid law.

Voice 1:In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected the first black South African president. He finished the process of ending Apartheid law in South Africa.

Voice 2:However, ending the harmful laws did not mean that the country was healed. For almost fifty years, all South Africans suffered from racial discrimination and segregation. And the country was still divided.

Voice 1:So, the new government of South Africa decided to form an organization called the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Archbishop Desmond Tutu led this commission of South African leaders. And Mapule was also a member.